My boyfriend and I recently got a new puppy, a Jack Russell we named Belle, she is only 10 weeks old and I've NEVER had a puppy before, were currently trying to get her housebroken, we bought the puppy training pads that are lightly scented to attract and she has been using the pad occasionally but then sometimes she will still go on the carpet, if we catch her we try to take her to the pad and say something like 'pee here', we make sure to watch her and when we think she is looking to go to the bathroom (sniffing around etc.) we try to take her to the pad as well but she will usually just walk away, and if we catch her going on the pad, when she is done we make sure to praise her. I'm totally clueless as to whether or not were doing this ok, so if anyone has any suggestions that would be great!
She is an extremely smart puppy, we've been taking her outside occasionally to get her used to it, and she knows her name, she knows what 'no' means, we've already got her to start obeying some commands such as stay and sit, I'm actually really surprised at how fast she is learning. I've also got her playing fetch with me too. Were also trying to teach her not to lick peoples faces since she seems to like to do that.
We have a cat as well, and we moved her food up because Belle kept eating it instead of her food, we've also noticed her trying to go in the litter box and we just tell her 'No' and she will walk away, I'm hoping eventually she will just stop trying to go in the litter box, as there isn't really many other spots in our apartment for the litter box to go. Luna (our cat) and Belle get along somewhat, it has only been 2 days so I can't really begin to tell if their gonna get along better, Belle is used to cats, the household we got her from had 4 cats, and Luna is used to other cats, she has had cats around her since we got her, she was only ever alone once we moved into our apartment about a month ago, and she was really lonely, she's never met a dog before though so I'm assuming thats why she is a bit hostile towards Belle at the moment.
Um..also, I have no idea about spaying her, I've been told you should wait for one heat cycle but then I've also read that you shouldn't. So any insight into that would be great as well, like I said I've never had a puppy before, I've had cats around me since I was a baby though, I got my first cat when I was six, the cat I have now (Luna) I got November 2006.
So any suggestions anyone has for raising a new puppy would be appreciated!! Thanks.
BELLE
LUNA